Ionic Crosslink of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic Acrylic Polymer

Abstract

Carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites (CFRTP) are expected for structual materials of automobiles because of light weight, high strength and thermoformability. However most of them have lower strength in comparison with carbon fiber / epoxy laminates because of their poor adhesive strength toward carbon fibers. The authors have developed carbon fiber / acrylic copolymer composites with high strength by achieving the strong adhesion between fiber and matrix. As acrylic resin has poor solvent resistance, its application field has been limited. The aim of this study is to create carbon fiber reinforced acrylic composites with both high strength and good solvent resistance. Pseudo-crosslinks by ionic bonds were introduced into the acrylic matrix. The ionic crosslinks remarkably improved in the elastic modulus and the solvent resistance of the acrylic matrix. The lap shear adhesion tests and the bending tests were carried out for CF/acrylic resin with ionic crosslinks. The acrylic resin with ionic crosslinks showed the strong adhesion to the carbon fibers in comparison with unmodified CF/PMMA, leading to the high flexural strength of CFRTP laminates. Also, the ionic cross-linked CFRTP had excellent thermoformability.